Trump-Backed Candidate Asfura Proclaimed New Head of State of the Central American Nation

Former President Trump-endorsed candidate Nasry “Tito” Asfura was proclaimed the winner of Honduras’s presidential election after a vote count that extended for nearly four weeks and was marred by claims of irregularities and accusations of interference by the American leader.

The rightwing Asfura, 67, a construction magnate and ex-mayor of the capital, Tegucigalpa, secured 40.27% of the vote, against 39.53% for the moderate right Salvador Nasralla, a margin of just 28,000 ballots.

The electoral council declared a victor before completing the examination of all vote records under a “extraordinary review” launched last week to re-tally votes marked as “inconsistent”. The decision was criticised by defeated candidates and deplored by the OAS, which deployed an observation mission to the election held on 30 November.

Asfura has already declared himself the elected president. “Honduras, we now have the official declaration from the CNE [supreme electoral tribunal]. I acknowledge the great work carried out by the councillors and the entire team that ran the election. My fellow citizens: I am ready to govern. I will not let you down. God bless Honduras,” he wrote.

Nasralla declined to accept defeat and posted a series of statements alleging fraud in the counting process, including “forgery of public documents”, asserting that “the data from the initial count sheets were changed”.

The electoral council is made up of three members: one aligned with Asfura’s party, one with Nasralla’s, and one with the party of the progressive president, Xiomara Castro, whose candidate finished third. Asfura’s victory was declared only by the initial pair of councillors.

The member associated with the president’s party rejected the result, claimed that an “stolen election” was under way and filed a legal challenge with the public prosecutor’s office, raising the prospect that the outcome will be challenged in the judiciary.

In its statement, the council declared: “By the majority will of the Honduran people, expressed sovereignly at the ballot box, the full council of the CNE proclaims Nasry Juan Asfura Zablah constitutional president of the Republic of Honduras for the four-year term starting 27 January 2026 and ending on 27 January 2030.”

The proclamation before the end of the review was the most recent in a series of controversies that marked the Central American country’s election campaign, starting with what many saw as blatant meddling by the American head of state.

Days before the election, Trump openly endorsed Asfura, stated the US would support the next government only if he was victorious, and attacked the other main contenders, labeling them communists or associates of Venezuela’s dictator, Nicolás Maduro.

On the eve of the election, the American leader also announced a pardon for the ex-leader of Honduras and Asfura ally Juan Orlando Hernández, who had been sentenced 45 years in prison for reportedly creating “a cocaine superhighway to the United States”.

The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, congratulated Asfura on social media. “The people of Honduras have made their choice: Nasry Asfura is Honduras’ next president,” said Rubio. “The United States congratulates the elected president Asfura and looks forward to collaborating with his government to advance prosperity and security in our hemisphere.”